Rail anchor



Dec. 31, `1946. E. A. sKOwRoN ET Al. l, 2,413,470

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Patented Dec. 31, 1946 UNITED STATES lTl-iNTl OFFICE Edmund A. Skowron, Pittsburgh, and Wilbert H.

Woodings, Oakmont, Pa.,y assignors to Woodings-Verona Tooly Works, Verona, poration of Pennsylvania,

Application'June s, 1944, serial (C1. 23S-33o) f2 Claims.

Y 1 k'I'his invention relates torail anchors, and more particularly to one-piece anchors that clamp onto rail bases.

' In Woodmgs Patent No. 1,646,780 a one-piece resilient rail anchorris" shown which is provided at one end with'fa jaw that'hooks over one side of the rail base. The other end of the anchor extends upwardly and is provided-in itslowerportion with a notch for receiving the-adjacent side of the railbase. In applying that anchor to a rail, it is placed under'the rail with the jaw hooked over thev rail base and with --the upper part of the inner surface of its opposite end engaging the lower edgeof the base at that side. A

tool is applied to the anchor to swing it about its jaw and cause its u p-turned end to slide upwardly across the side of the' rail base until the notch snaps over the base to lock theanchor inpos'ition. L'Ihat anchor has met with a great deal of suc- (cess and is' extensively used, but dueto the shape ofthe Vconvex inner surface of the lip-turned end', considerable strength is required to force the hump up' over the sideof the rail. This tires the man whoy applies the anchors, and results in fewer anchors being applied to the rails per day than n Itis among the objects of this invention to provide a one-piece resilient rail anchor of the general character justre'ferredv to lwhich can be applied to rails much more easily than those known heretofore, and, more specifically, which gradually opens at a substantially uniform rate as its up-turned end is moved up across the adjacent side of the rail base.

In accordance with this invention vthe anchor, which is adapted to extendunder a rail base, has its opposite ends extending upwardlyand close enough together that they must be sprung apart in order to receive the rail base between them. One end of the anchor is formed for gripping one side of the rail base while the anchor is moved into position by turning it about that end in order to force the upwardly extending opposite end of the anchor .upwardly across the other side of the base. This last-mentioned end of the anchor has an inner surface that is concave lengthwise and which, when the anchor is being applied to the rail, slides upwardly across the lower edge of the adjacent side of the rail base and acts like a cam to spread the ends of the anchor apart. The lower end of this cam surface terminates at the upper end of a notch, with which the anchor is provided, for receiving the side of the rail base when the anchor is in position thereon. The gist of this invention is that the contour of the cam Pa., a corsurface is such that for each degree that the anchor is rotated tomove the camrsurfaceupwardly across the lower rail base edge, the anchor opens a substantially uniformy amount until its ends are spread far enough apart to permit it .to snap ontothe rail base. 'l Y The 'preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig.'1 shows our anchor hooked onto a rail base readyto be swung upwardly into final position, with the nal position of the up-turned end shown in broken lines; .and Fig. 2 is a frag-lmentary view showing the anchor jaw in final position onthe rail.

Referring to the drawing, the anchor is made from a rectangular metal bar that is bent into the proper shape, such as that shown. vThe anchor preferably includes a central spring loop l extending downwardly and the upper ends of whichiare curved outwardly and downwardly to forni surfaces? 2 that bear against the bottom of a rail base 3. The opposite ends of the anchor extend upwardly, and thefup'per part of one of them is bent inwardly to form a jaw 4 for receiving one sideof the rail base. The inside of this jaw has a substantially vertical inner wall adapted tol lie at against the side wall of the rail base, and an `upper wall that inclines upwardly for the major portion of its length at substantially the same angle as the upper surface of the rail base. The rest of the upper wall extends upwardly at a much sharper angle to aid in applying the anchor to the rail. The inner lower wall 6 `of the jaw is 4spaced from the bottom of the rail when the anchor is in position thereon, as shown in Fig. 2,

and permits the anchor to be applied to the rail without spreading open the jaw. I

The anchors end 'l opposite the jaw extends upwardly a considerable distance, and its lower portion'is provided with a notch 8 that receives vthesde of the rail base when the anchor is mounted on the rail with the up-turned end projecting above it. Due to the opposite ends of the anchor normally being closer together than the opposite sides of the rail base, the inner face 9 of the up-turned end above the notch serves as a cam surface which, in cooperation with the lower edge of the rail base that it engages during application of the anchor. spreads the ends of the anchor apart as the cam surface is forced upwardly on the rail.

It is a feature of this invention that cam surface 9 is so shaped that, as it slides upwardly across the lower rail base edge, the anchor opens gradually at a substantially uniform rate until the ends are spread far enough apart to receive the rail base between them with one side projecting into notch 8. Accordingly, cam surface 9 is concave lengthwise with its lower end closer than any other part of that surface to the opposite end of the anchor. Furthermore, the curvature of the surface is 'such that it extends through the vertically spaced ends of a plurality of im-V aginary straight lines that converge at a point on the inner wall of the jaw engageable with the upper edge of the opposite side of the railbase. This point may be at the inner upper corner o'f the jaw even though the first` p ointgofengagement with the upper edge of the rail baseisslightly lower, because the distancebetween these ft'wo points is too small to make any difference. These converging lines are uniformly ,spacedapartfand the length of each one is substantially uniformly greater than the one directly below it.

In laying out the contour of the cam surface, the followingrprocedure maybe followed. The location of ythe point of initial contact between cam f surface :9 .and the lower edge .of :the rail base is 4rstdecided upon. .It is thengeasy fto determine :how far thatl .point must move :Ontwardly before the notch 1 can jsnap int-o position onzthe rail base. Lines are thenjdrawn fromthe initial contactpointand from the mostinwardly disposed point at .the lower :end of the cam surface vto 'the upper `inside corner .of jaw f4. The angle formed between these vtwo zlines then subdivided "into.degrees by ianumber Aof additional lines. The previously determined distance that the anchor mustopenfisfthen divided by the'number of spaces between all of these lines :tond outv how=far the lanchorsh'ould open foreach degree of upward frnovementof the cam surface `across'the lower :edge of theyrailbase. Starting at #the lowest line, each successive;v line -is then Vmadelonger Ythan Vthe one beloWit'Lby an y amount equartothe distance thatthe: anchor is toopen forfeach-degree QI" 'l lPwa1fd;-r0taton. A line drawn through thesspacedfends'of these degree lines vwill representthe 4curvature that the cam surface of theanchorishollld have.

z Arail anchorconstructed naccordancewith this invention can -be fapplied Ytoca. rail much moreeasily-than previous-anchors of; this type, because the force required-forlthat'purpose is increased. gradually andsubstantially'uniformly and becomes greatest when thelower end'ofV the cam surface Vreaches the rail, instead of quickly ,approaching its niaxirnlmr close .to the point .of

initial contact between tam surfaceand rail.

Th-is-v means thatless physical effort is expended 4 trated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

fl. kA one-'piece resilient-railanchor adapted to extend under a railbase, the opposite ends of the anchor extending upwardly and requiring to b e sprung apart to receive the rail base between thein, one end of the anchor being formed to hook over ,one side of thejrailx base and to en- .;gage `:its upper edge While the anchor is posi- .tionecl by :turning .-it about said upper edge to 4"fforcelthe Vupwardly extending opposite end of to the `vprovisions of the patent the anchor'upwardly and outwardly across the other side of thebase, said opposite end of the anchor .having an inner cam surface adapted to slide upwardly across the lower edge of the adjacent ;side yof therail base, the lower end-of said surface terminating at 1th@ upper endaof a notch with which the anchor is provided ,-for receiving saidaljacent side of therail base when rthe anchorv vis in position thereon, and said 'cam `surface being .concave .lengthwise .and intersecting.thefvertically spaced ends of aplurality .of-imaginary straight lines converging at a.point,onfthe anchor engagablewith the upper edge of vthe opposite sideofthe rail base, said lines `being,substantially.one degree apart and the `length lof'each.onebein-g substantially uniformly-,greater than 'the .linedirectly. below it.

2. .VA-one-piecewresilient railanchor adapted to extend-under :a .rail base 'and having .a central depending lloon-portion the upper ends of .which are-adapted to bear tightly 1 against.l the bottom of :the rail,A the opposite ...ends `lof the anchor extending upwardlyv andrequiri'ngto be vsprung .apart to v'receive the rail base between,them,lone end of .the y.ar-ichc'ir `beingformed .tohook over one side of' therail Vbase .and to-,engage its ,upper edge While the ancho-r is .positioned by .turning .itabout said upperedgeto force the .upwardly .extending opposite end of the .anchor upwardly and outwardly acrossthe other side'of 4thebase, said Voppositeendof theanchor having an Vinnercarnrsurface .adapted .to slide upwardly across the.` lower .edge of theadjacent side of .the railnbase, thelowenendof .said surface termi- V4natingatfthe.upper.end of a lnotch withowhich .the .anchor is [provided .for receiving said Vad- -acent-,sde-iof the rail base whenV the anchor is in position thereon, and said cam surfaceY being concave lengthwise Y and of Such curvature vthat the anchor Y.graduallyV .opens at a substantially 4uniformjrateas ,.sai'dcam .surface is irnoved up .across-said rail .base edge. 

